ABSTRACT
The Kauṣītakī Upaniṣad begins with a scene about the transmission of a sacred teaching. The young brahmin Śvetaketu, on the recommendation of his father Uddālaka Āruṇi, goes to perform a Vedic ritual for King Citra Gāṅgyāyani. The king asks him if he knows the paths to the other world. Śvetaketu replies that he does not know this teaching and then returns to his father to ask how he should reply. Uddālaka Āruṇi, though, does not know this teaching either, so he goes to the king himself to learn. The respected brahmin then approaches King Citra with firewood in hand and announces himself as the king’s student. Citra delivers a teaching about death and rebirth, describing the journey after life to the worlds of different gods. Finally, the king’s discourse unfolds into another dialogue, this one between a person who has reached the world of Brahmā and the god Brahmā.
